My Destiny
by Lyoko Native
Summary: Kadic closes its dorm's doors during summer holiday. Having no place to go during this, Aelita accompanies Jeremie to his family's estate. During this holiday, Aelita learns of Jeremie's strained relation to his father and his family background.
1. Introduction

_France, circa 1250_

_ The old man wheezed as Sir Jeremiah is crowned leader of the Protectors, an ancient group dating back tens of hundreds of years before young Jeremiah was even born. They protected France's people by protecting the guiding light. However, Jeremiah was not sure he believed such lore. He had never seen a guiding light, and he doubted he ever would. Guiding lights were described as beautiful, calm, and brave women who risked their lives for others. Jeremiah looked at his cronies, Orlando, the young Italian man who acted oddly, and Urija, the German man who was distant from even Orlando and Jeremiah. They were all leaders, and they honored their decisions to join the Protectors._

_ The wheezing old man waved his hand, beckoning something to come into the stone walls of Castle Nortel. The large wooden doors opened with haste as three women almost glided into the room. Each was dressed the same: a long white dress with a red sash across their waists. The sash had a piece that hung down and swished as the three walked. The first was the oldest, tall and Asian with almond-shaped eyes that were the color of walnuts. She was obviously bright and her eyes twinkled as they caught the candlelight. She curtsied, and introduced herself as Yuri Himura._

_ The second was much younger, with mint green eyes and curly strawberry blond hair. Her smile was sweet and her Spanish routes showed through her obvious attempts to hide it. She curtsied and introduced herself as Alanza Hopper._

_ The third was difficult to describe. You couldn't tell if she was older than Yuri or younger than Alanza. All you could tell was she was Italian, with brown hair and sea blue eyes. She curtsied and introduced herself as Sabrina Rossi._

_ The old, sickly man said the three women were Guiding Lights. The man said that until each woman breathed her last breath, it would be the men's duty to protect them. Orlando, Urija and Jeremiah bowed in respect, and Jeremiah believed the lore then, as Alanza curtsied and looked at him with a mysterious look that proved impossible to uncover its meaning._

_ As time went by, Jeremiah and his new friends, and his old friends, all their enemies seemed to fall at their feet. Jeremiah replaced his original last name Nortel, which is why his castle was named as such, to Belpois, to remind him to keep himself level-headed._

_ Now, in current times, as the world is faced with a new danger, we approach our time, where it is summer and Jeremie Belpois, Jeremiah's descendant, and Alanza's descendant Aelita Stones drive back to Jeremie's home. Jeremie, to say the least, is less than thrilled to be going home, while Aelita is excited to meet Jeremie's family._

_ A new enemy stalks the limousine they ride in, an old enemy lies inside driving them. The only thing keeping them from death is the fact Castle Belpois is in sight and the inscription on the seat reading, 'Wherever our sun may set another shall rise soon enough to take its place. Remember this, dear Jeremiah, and thou shall never fear my absence.' It was a quote from Alanza, and it was now the family saying._

_**'Wherever our sun may set another shall rise soon enough to take its place. Remember this, dear Jeremiah, and thou shall never fear my absence.'**_

_**~Alanza Hopper, circa 1260**_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Aelita stared out the limousine's tinted windows. The road, even in the first-class limo, was dirt and bumpy, causing the limo to wave. The dirt road lay in between two pastures, the wind swayed the chartreuse grass peacefully, and a herder saw the limo pass by, and he took off his floppy straw hat and waved it with a smile on his face. Aelita waved to him, and the herder was soon left far behind. Aelita smiled as she looked at the French countryside, and how beautiful and serene it was. She thought how lucky Jeremie was to live here. Then the thought that X.A.N.A would somehow find a way to destroy this pulsated through Aelita's pink-haired head.

The limo stopped suddenly, jolting Aelita and Jeremie forward. Jeremie quickly sat back up, straightening his glasses and fixing his laptop so it sat on his lap again. Aelita smoothed her skirt, and she heard a knock come to Jeremie's window. Jeremie, obviously, was so engrossed in his work; he didn't notice it, so Aelita reached over him and pushed the button to roll down the window. A girl leaned into the limo, her suntanned skin red from running and her light brown hair was crazy. Her eyes, however, were blue and sparkled. "Hi, Jer Bear, I see you're home for the summer holiday." The girl spoke French with an Italian accent, like Odd had back at Kadic.

Jeremie looked up from his laptop and smiled at the girl. "Hey, Sandy," He laughed as the girl blew light hair from her face. 'Sandy,' as Jeremie called her, grabbed the top of the limo and slipped into the vehicle through the open window. Aelita felt a pang of jealousy of Sandy's gymnast-like build and flexible body.

_I, _Aelita concluded in her thoughts, _must work on my flexibility. I am not nearly as flexible as I should be. _Sandy plunked herself right between Aelita and Jeremie. Sandy turned to Aelita, with a glare of total evil written on her face. However, she managed to squeak out, "Hi, I'm Sandra Rossi. My parents work for the Belpois family. And you are?" Sandra managed to stay sweet in tone, even though her glare said 'I will KILL you.'

Aelita smiled, trying her best to seem pleased with Sandra. "My name is Aelita Stones. I go to school with Jeremie." The two girls stared at each other until Jeremie intervened.

"Aelita, Sandy and I were friends before I started going to Kadic. We used to do everything together." Jeremie smiled. It was one of the most recent smiles Jeremie had given the entire ride. Jeremie had said while he and his mother were like two peas in a pod and she got along with everyone, his father was a rather stern and coldhearted man who frowned on most everything Jeremie stood for. "Um, can you stop, please?"

The driver groaned, and Jeremie jumped at the chance and told Aelita to get her camera. Jeremie opened the door once she had it and urged the girls to get out. The driver exits the limo in a terrible mood, which Jeremie ignores and asks for him to take his picture with Aelita and Sandy.

Jeremie wrapped his left arm around Aelita, and his right arm around Sandy. He smiled, being with two of the most important girls in his life. Aelita's smile was perfect- the only way you could tell she was unhappy was if you looked into her eyes, which showed sadness and some jealousy. Sandy's eyes showed no emotion at all, you could not tell which emotion lay below her blue eyes.

The driver snapped the picture and shoved the digital camera back into Aelita's small hands.

Time Gap, Belpois Castle, around 1200 Hours

Jeremie had specifically asked for Aelita's room to be across from his. His reasons the worker bees of the castle questioned not, and they quickly made Aelita's room comfortable. Jeremie, on the other hand, worked on printing three copies of the picture the limo driver had taken earlier. "One for you, one for me, and another for Sandy." Jeremie announced as they finished printing. They had printed nicely, on photo paper so they had a glossy covering and it felt sticky to the touch. Aelita tested this a couple of times, only to be stopped by Jeremie.

Quickly, servants rushed in, some grabbing Aelita by her arms, others pulling her, and even more pushing her. Jeremie was lost in all the babul that he lost touch of what was going on, until he realized Aelita was gone from his room. He fell back into his chair and set a mental timer for ten minutes. "Well, Jeremie, what did you expect? An entire day with Princess all to yourself?" Jeremie's tone changed suddenly, into a mockery tone that was high pitched, but the pitch was monotonous. "_Not in _this _household, young Jeremie._" Jeremie was clearly mocking an older woman who ran the upkeep of the castle, and obviously had decided long beforehand that Aelita and Jeremie were to spend as little time together as they could.

He looked around his room, the stone walls cold even at noon in summer. They chilled the room at least ten degrees and this was good for the many robots and technology in Jeremie's bedroom. However, they walls were repeating and created a jail cell-like feel. _At least_, Jeremie thought, _this time I'm in jail with Aelita._

Aelita's adventure across the hall was short-lived. The servants quickly dumped her into her room and then scurried off. This room, even though the servants had only been in for a few moments, was completely different than Jeremie's room… mostly because it was pink. Pink drapes covered the walls. Pink sheets were folded neatly on a four-poster bed. "Very fancy," Aelita commented with a laugh. Her laptop (she questioned how they had gotten a hold of that) sat on a pink painted desk (she questioned why the Belpois family would have a pink desk in the first place) and a line of fairy tales covered in pink book socks sat on a pink bookshelf (She questioned how and why the Belpois family could have so much pink!). Next to the window, which was black, sat a fuzzy pink chair with black legs. She remembered Jeremie saying that his room, when he was younger, was luxury, but when he got older, he had asked to remove most of it to make more room for his inventions.

Aelita sat in the fuzzy chair, which tickled her legs. The minute she laughed, everything went dark. Aelita blinked, but everything was black, as if her eyes were closed, and yet, Aelita could feel the summer breeze on her irises. She stood, walking until she smacked into something. "Sit down, my dear, before you hurt yourself, for Christ's sake!" a young woman's voice reigned from nowhere.

The woman's voice came to Aelita as a shock, so she immediately obeyed her. The fire that had burned brightly in her room before things went dark returned. A woman stepped out of the flames, untouched. However, her face was streaked with tears and her eyes, though beautiful, seemed dead. "My name is Alanza Hopper, your ancestor. Now, don't look at me like that, child, I really am Alanza!"

"How can I be sure?" Aelita asked as Alanza paced around the girl.

"You can't really; you will just have to trust me, Aelita." Alanza placed her hand on Aelita's shoulder. "I just want you to know my story, because I fear, if you are my reincarnation, then your story may be shockingly like mine." Alanza pursed her lips, and then added, "Well, my story is long, so I'll show you my beginning and from there, it'll be like a chapter book at bedtime, okay?"

Alanza placed a thin finger on Aelita's forehead. An image of Alanza as an eight-year-old girl filled her head. Alanza sat near the fire, reading a book. A woman barged in, her hands on her hips. "_Alanza! We have customers! What are you doing? Are you reading?_"

Alanza tried to hide the book, but unfortunately, the woman took it away. "_Women who read are forbidden, Alanza!_" The woman fed the book to the fire. Alanza watched it burn for thirty seconds. Then, she dove into the embers and grabbed the charred book. She turned the pages, and found the only sparred words were, '_You will fall in love that is returned, but denied_'. There was a picture left, and Alanza remembered it was of the prince's betrothed and the princess, who had been looking at each other with the prince in between. All the remained was the prince's betrothed and half the prince.

Aelita began to sob, and Alanza grabbed the picture of Sandra, Jeremie and Aelita from the window pane. Alanza dropped the picture, and Aelita went to grab it. "Thirty seconds, my dear, thirty seconds will make or break you."

Aelita counted to thirty before diving into the embers to save the picture. The picture was all in all destroyed in most aspects, except for half of Jeremie and Aelita.

Color returned to the world around Aelita as Alanza's voice echoed, "The flames have decided your future." Aelita hugged the charred photo, and then she noticed her burns. They formed a 'G' on her left arm, and a 'L' on the other. She shrugged it off, and placed the charred photo under her bed.

"It was just a dream," Aelita told herself, sitting down next to the window and she began to read.

A/N: Wow! Forever, right? I'm so excited to know what you think! Okay, reply… NOW!

_**Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.**_

_**~ Martin Luther King Jr.**_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Yumi skateboarded down the city streets, looking at the robotic tree that stood in the park. She looked at it, trying to decide whether or not it was pretty. The titanium alloy shone in the sunlight, and the tree's roots wove in and out of the ground. She thought it was rather impressive, how it acted like a tree, behaved like a tree, did the same functions as a tree, and yet it still reflected science. Yumi couldn't understand how one could build such a thing. _But, _she thought, shrugging off her confusion, _if someone can figure out how to virtualize people onto another world and still bring them back, I suppose anything is possible._

Yumi noticed a sign with an arrow pointing towards the other end of the park. She followed the path leading that direction and saw a tiny titanium tree sprout with two delicate copper leaves it the middle of a patch of daisies. She sighed, and she held a copper leaf in her hand. It was thin and papery, and it felt like the slightest touch could break it. Yumi smiled and took out her cell phone to snap a picture, sending it to Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich and Odd.

Jeremie heard his phone give out a small beep. He looked at the text Yumi had sent and smiled, almost laughing at the small sprout. Jeremie knocked on Aelita's door, which she hesitated before answering. Aelita seemed quite shaken, but she regained composer when she saw Jeremie. "Hi, Jeremie, what is the matter?" Aelita asked, leaning on the door frame for support.

Jeremie smiled as he showed her the picture, and she she sighed and laughed. "Yumi sent it to me. Check your phone, maybe you got one." Jeremie shrugged, smiling at the scientific marvel. Aelita reached into her pocket and looked at her texts until she found what she was looking for. She laughed again, nudging Jeremie softly with her shoulder. He blushed, and he nervously pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose do to force of habit. He began to say something when his computer beeped, signaling an attack from X.A.N.A. Aelita followed Jeremie back to his room.

He scanned Lyoko, hoping to find an activated tower. He returned with no results. Jeremie pulled a puzzled look, then scanned again. Still, nothing turned up. He groaned in frustration. _Three times the charm, _he thought, scanning once more. And again, for the third time, nothing turned up. "Maybe it was a false alarm." Aelita suggested, trying to be helpful. As if just to prove her wrong, Jeremie's computer beeped again. Aelita frowned, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"If it _is_ a false alarm, why does it keep going off?" Jeremie asked no one in particular after five minutes of scanning with no results. Aelita put her hand on his shoulder in support, faking a smile to show encouragement. Jeremie smiled back, but there seemed to be no happiness lost nor spared between the two of them. Aelita smoothed her dress nervously, and she watched Jeremie's fingers dance across the keyboard. She tried to take in any signs of errors in his typing, but she couldn't. A knock came to the door, and Jeremie called out half-heartedly, "Come in, door's open."

The driver that had driven Jeremie and Aelita entered, nodding at the two teenagers before saying, "Dinner is ready, children, so wash up and prepare to eat." The man said in a British accent, closing the door at a slow pace. Jeremie finished typing and stood, and Aelita followed him down the stairs. They both paused for a moment as the air around them seemed to grow colder, but the feeling quickly passed. The duo ignored it and walked down the seemingly endless maze of hallways.

At dinner, Jeremie poked around at his food, not really hungry and wanting to get back to work. He and his father exchanged nervous glances, Aelita ate slowly as her eyes darted from everyone and everything in the dining hall, and Jeremie's mother's eyes were locked on Aelita. Clearing her throat, Jeremie's mother asked, "So, Aelita Stones, you said you were, dear?"

Aelita quickly looked to Jeremie's mother. "Yes. I'm Odd's cousin, from Canada." Aelita recited the lie she had learned so dearly by heart. Her heart stopped beating for a moment at the next question his mother asked.

"When Jeremie asked if one of his friends could stay here, I assumed it would be Odd or Ulrich. How did you two meet, anyway?" Jeremie seemed to choke on his fork by this question, and Aelita blinked rapidly. Aelita fiddled with her hair and Jeremie fixed his glasses. They both glanced at each other, then seemed surprised when their expressions both read, 'What's your plan?' "I'm waiting..."

"Uh, wow, um, can't say I was expecting that." Aelita said truthfully. "I'm sure we met through Kadic, but I could always be wrong." She convinced herself it wasn't a total lie- Jeremie had, in fact, found the supercomputer during his time at Kadic.

Jeremie nodded, smiling widely. Aelita smiled as well, and they glanced back at each other before turning to their dinners, faces hot. Jeremie's parents looked from each other to Jeremie and Aelita. Jeremie's father was the first to respond. "That's the best liar face you two can come up with? In my day, that was the face we used when the guy sitting next to you in class passed gas!" He laughed, unable to contain his amusement. Jeremie's mother laughed a little, but Jeremie and Aelita used the time to look at each other with a look that said 'Are you serious?'. "Okay, okay, now tell me the truth. How did you meet?"

Aelita smiled, trying to think while Jeremie had a ravishingly brilliant idea. "We met through Odd." He said, keeping a straight face. His parents looked at him, eager to get more details, which is when Jeremie realized that in details, his plan was a few crumbs short of a chocolate chip cookie. "When he was in that stage..." Jeremie motioned to Aelita, begging silently for help.

"Oh, oh, oh, right, right- when he was all about..." Aelita added, not knowing what he wanted her to say. "...When he was all about that... _thing_..." Aelita added, blushing at how stupid the lie was turning out to be.

Jeremie blushed, too, hoping that it was convincing his parents at least. "And he wanted us to do that... _thing_, too..." Jeremie thought, trying to think of what the 'thing' could be.

Jeremie's parents had apparently heard enough. They put down their silverware and looked away, their faces flushed. There was quiet for several moments. Soon, things seemed to be about ready to return to normal when Jeremie's father put his forehead in his hand, then pointed his fingers at the teens and asked, "Well, did you agree to do that thing?"

Aelita and Jeremie looked at each other. 'What is it?' Jeremie mouthed, responded by Aelita mouthing, 'I don't know.' The silent conversation seemed to take a weight off of Jeremie's parents' shoulders, and his mother stood. "That's a bit too much drama for me for one night." She said, putting her plate on a dish cart. The others followed her lead.

Aelita knocked on Jeremie's door, a pink covered book in hand. Jeremie answered the door, and he smiled and let her in. Aelita sat down on his bed and as soon as Jeremie sat down, she asked, "Jeremie, what's 'camping?'"

Jeremie spun in his chair to look at her, and he asked, "What's camping? Why do you want to know?"

"Because, in this story, these kids are out in the woods 'camping.' And I don't know what it is." Aelita said, pouting.

Jeremie sighed and looked away, but no one can resist a pout, not even Jeremie. "Camping is when you take a tent outside and set it up so you can sleep in it. It's kind of like a slumber party, just outside." Jeremie explained. Aelita nodded, and Jeremie added, "Do you remember when I would stop talking to you for a few hours everyday, and you'd sometimes freak out and become paranoid when you couldn't find a tower?"

"Uh-huh, I remember." Aelita sighed.

"Camping is sort of like a mix between the two- being outside, far away from a tower during a period of rest." Jeremie finished, and Aelita mouthed the word 'Oh,' and now satisfied, Jeremie returned to work.

"Can we go camping tonight?" Aelita asked.

"A bit late for that, don't you think?"

"Its barely seven o'clock!"

"That's nineteen hundred hours army time."

"That doesn't make it any later."

Jeremie sighed, and he stood, opening a cupboard trying to find his father's old tent. He pulled out the tent and shock it out, creating a small dust cloud and filling the room with a musky scent. Aelita lightly covered her nose and Jeremie coughed into his elbow. Jeremie and Aelita dragged the heavy tent outside to air out, and Aelita shivered. She told Jeremie she was going inside and rushed into her room, grabbing a pair of pink yoga pants and slipping them on. Just as she was about to leave, a voice whispered, 'You are in terrible danger!' The voice faded quickly, and Aelita's cell phone vibrated on her fireplace mantle.

Aelita grabbed it nervously, then looked at the text she had gotten. She didn't know the number, but the text simply read, 'U r in terrible danger' with a picture of the robotic tree sprout. Aelita read the number over and over in her head. _1-727-124-1260... how strange, I don't know this person, _Aelita thought, hitting the reply key. 'What do u mean?' Aelita entered, then hitting the send button as she walked out the hallway. A strange pop-up appeared, and it read, 'We're sorry, but this message cannot be sent because a} this number is out of service b} this number is under construction or {c} this number does not exist. We are sorry but {c}.'

Aelita shrugged, and she called Yumi while walking back outside. "Hello?" Yumi asked, wide awake.

"Hi, Yumi." Aelita greeted, watching Jeremie argue with a servant that didn't want Jeremie to help with the tent.

"Hey! Did you get the picture?"

"Yeah. Hey, does the number '727-124-1260' mean anything to you?"

"No. But it is very similar to a number I got- '727-194-1260.' It was the strangest thing. They told me I was in danger but my phone said the number didn't exist when I tried to reply."

"That's totally scary- the same thing just happened to me!"

"Odd and Ulrich asked me about the numbers '727-637-1260' and '727-187-1260.' Hope that helps."

"It might. Thanks, Yumi." Aelita felt the buzz of her phone vibration before she even took it away from her ear after hanging up. She looked at the text message. It read, 'Ur future may depend on tomorrow' from the number '1-388-032-2030.' "This is just bizarre." Aelita sighed as she turned her phone off. Jeremie called over to her, and she noticed the tent was set up.

_**Courage is not the absence of fear, but simply moving on with dignity despite that fear.**_

_**~Pat Riley**_

A/N: Life is tough. Haven't posted much of anything anywhere, except on Facebook. But, here is chapter two. By the way, none of those phone numbers are mine. I'm sorry if the numbers belong to you. Each of them has a special meaning. Good luck finding out what it is, though!^^


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